Battle of the Bulge 13 A
Alright guys, prepare yourself for a LONG read. I wanted to end it so badly, but a whole ton of other shite ended up happening. I literally just finished typing it, gave it a quick once over, so yeah, errors LIKE WHOA, I just had to get this up today. It's over 10 k.
A smart writer might've seperated it and left you hanging, begging for more...but...who says I'm smart.
(that gif is kinda nasty O_o..ew)
It's already 3:45 a.m here, I'm tired and heading to bed.
Love is a feeling you feel when you feel a feeling you've never felt before.
Yesung slams the car door on his way out, ignoring Kyuhyun’s shouts as he makes his way up his driveway. He had asked to be dropped off at home instead of going to Changmin’s house for the get together. He really could care less whether they won or not.
Screw all their hard work, Kyuhyun could go rejoice with Gina if he wanted to. Kyuhyun had done most of the talking on the drive back. Well, he more or less groveled for Yesung to accept his apology and his thin excuses as to why he didn’t mention Gina. Yesung had wished desperately for headphones. He had sworn on his every sane part of him that if Kyuhyun didn’t shut up soon, he would’ve leaned over the driver’s seat and slapped the boy silly.
Yesung put up with a lot of things, especially when it came to Kyuhyun. But being deceived like that was not something he was going to take lightly. His heart wasn’t exactly broken but he was utterly disappointed in Kyuhyun. They were finally moving into a more accepting and understanding zone in their so called friendship, and it’s such a fucking shame they can’t seem to get beyond a physical attraction before Kyuhyun went an screwed it up.
Yesung barged into the house, thanking God the door was unlocked and that he didn’t have to stand out on the porch looking like some humiliated fool. As soon as the door closes behind him, all his pent us adrenaline surges and he launches himself up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door behind him. He kicks the bed but ends up banging his foot rather sharply on the edge, hissing in pain, he picks up and throws a pillow, which hits a lamp on his bedside table, causing it to fall onto the ground, a loud cracking sound informing him that it was now damaged goods.
He groans in frustration. His fist thumps against the wall, an instant shock of pain flying into his knuckles and arm. He cradles the fist, slumping onto the ground with loud agonized moan.
God, he couldn’t even throw a temper tantrum without hurting himself.
Curse you Kyuhyun!
Yesung closes his eyes against the harsh reality, breathing heavily as his mind raced.
Another 10 minutes or so pass before there is a knock at his door, and then his mother lets herself in.
“Hm. I was expecting a lot more damage”
Yesung groans and rolls over onto his side to face her, he holds out his throbbing hand, “I hurt my hand” he pouts pitifully, “And I think I sprained my ankle”
Saya places her hands on her hips, her lips quirking into an endearing smile as she shakes her head at him. She takes two steps toward him, reaching out to take his injured hand into her own. Placing a soothingly motherly kiss to his knuckles she bends until she’s on her knees next to him.
“Care to share the bad news, honey”
He would’ve liked nothing than to rat Kyuhyun out as a slimey, asshole just to make his mother despise the other boy but he chooses instead to shake his head, puffing out a sigh.
“I’m just being ridiculous”
Saya makes a ‘hm’ sound, as if she’s thinking his words over, “About what? Surely the road trip couldn’t have been that bad”
Making up his mind, Yesung gets up onto his knees and crawls towards her, resting his head on her lap. Saya smiles softly at her son, petting his hair.
“The trip wasn’t…bad. It” Yesung breaks off to laugh a little, “It was actually pretty damn exciting”
With a warning pat to his head, Saya lightly scolds him for the inappropriate choice of words. Yesung rolls his eyes, knowing that she cannot see him.
“Kyuhyun has a girlfriend” his voice is soft in disbelief. “Kyuhyun has a girlfriend” the more times he says it aloud, the more his shock shows. After that amazing night in the dark of the cinema it was devastating for him to accept this fact. He was mad at Kyuhyun for not opening up about Gina in the first place but there was a part of him wishing that it all didn’t happen and that he was having some kind of twilight-zone nightmare and when he wakes up he and Kyuhyun would be spending a blissful night at Changmin’s house flirting and sharing intimate touches and secret smile.
“I thought you and Kyuhyun weren’t a couple” Saya teases softly, she frowns when Yesung makes a choking sound. She didn’t like to see her son so saddened.
Yesung sits up and gives her an expression that clearly said, ‘Now is not the time for jokes’
“He told me he liked me!” the boy whines, he hates that he sounds like some sort of eight year old, but he doesn’t give a shit.
“Why would he do that? I mean if he had a fuc…I, uh, if he had a girlfriend then why would he even lead me on like that?!”
Saya pinches Yesung on the ear briefly, reprimanding him for his mild slip up, “So he told you he liked you and then told you he had a girlfriend?”
“No! And that’s the problem! He told me he liked me, we kiss…” Yesung pretends to cough when Saya eyes widened a little, “It was only a kiss, we didn’t do anything else” his guilty conscience is ready to remind him of his and Kyuhyun’s drunken night and he tries not to let his guilt show on his face. “Anyways he didn’t tell me about this Gina. She called and I just so happened to answer. She told me she was his girlfriend”
Saya holds up a hand to stop him just as Yesung drew a breath to launch into a rant about Kyuhyun’s deviousness.
“And what did Kyuhyun have to say?”
Yesung scowled, “He apparently plans to break up with her and didn’t want to tell me about Gina because he thought I would over react. I am not over reacting?! He has a girlfriend, he lied, he…he SUCKS! and is trying to make me look like the bad guy instead of taking responsibilities for his actions”
Saya nods, “Hm, Kyuhyun sounds like an ass”
Yesung gapes at her use of the word ‘ass’. Saya smirks, “What? I’m allowed to be frank when it comes to someone mistreating my only child”
He grins at her, “However, what I’m curious about is did he apologize sincerely?” she asks
Grudgingly Yesung nods, he remembers Kyuhyun practically begging for Yesung to forgive him multiple times during their journey home. A couple of times the trainer had sounded utterly desperate for Yesung to answer him but Yesung had stubbornly refused to do any such thing.
“And he plans to break up with this Gina?”
“That’s, that’s what he said”
“And do you still like him despite the fact that withheld this information from you?”
Yesung groans at the question. He covers his face with his palms, mumbling incoherent curses into them. He roughly wipes his hands over his face and reluctantly admits, “Yes” However he’s quick to add, “But I’m still mad at him!”
“Well, from what I’ve heard and from what I see in your eyes and from Kyuhyun’s long sad, puppy face, I suggest that you not be so hasty to end this relationship before it even starts. If Kyuhyun truly wants to be with you, he would be honest with this Gina, and if they do decide to call it quits, if that happens, then…well, I guess you guys can handle things from there”
“But will I be able to trust him again?” and because he’s feeling insanely insecure for some reason, he asks, “What if he doesn’t break up with her? What if he thinks being with me is too much work and decides to stay with her?” his eyes enlarge, one of his hands running worriedly through his hair.
Saya smiles gently and Yesung wants to shake her. It wasn’t the time to smile! “Kyuhyun seems to have the same worries. He wants to break things off with Gina but he thinks you won’t be interested in him again. He seems pretty worried about Siwon snatching you up.” She eyes Yesung suspiciously, “Is there some kind of weird love-square between you, Siwon, Kyuhyun and Gina”
He wants to correct her and say that it’s more likely a love triangle between himself, Kyuhyun and Gina but he’s too busy staring at her as if she had gone crazy.
“Uh, um, when did you talk to Kyuhyun?”
Saya shrugs, “He’s downstairs moping on our couch, he brought your luggage into the porch and immediately confessed when I greeted him at the door”
The teenage boy continues to gape at her in shock. Then he turns wide eyes toward his bedroom door, as if he suspected Kyuhyun to be outside of it listening to them.
His head snaps around and he pleads with her, “I don’t want to talk to him. Please ma, just make him go away”
Saya frowns, and then she perks up again, reaching out to hug him close to her bosom, “Okay baby. But you can’t avoid him forever. Just, just give it time. Kyuhyun is obviously beating himself up over this and I know it’s your decision in the end but try not to give up too easily”
~~
After Yesung is sure Saya had escorted Kyuhyun out of their house, he heads downstairs to grab some dinner. His father, who is clueless as to what is happening, cheerfully asks Yesung about the road trip and with the constant memory of Gina’s phone call repeating itself over and over in his head Yesung’s food begins to taste like ash in his mouth and he excuses himself from the table.
When he gets to his room, he tosses himself onto the bed, lying on his back in order to stare thoughtfully at the ceiling. He is about to curl into a comfortable position, however, the sharp sound of his cell phone chirping draws his attention. Thankfully it’s nearby and he doesn’t have to get up to reach it.
Checking the screen he sees that it is an alert tone for a missed call. He has about 5 of them, all from Luna. She had already returned from her Camping trip about 3 days before.
Sighing, he knows he has to tell her at some point but he didn’t really want to do it tonight, especially not over the phone.
With a long exhale his finger scrolls to her number and he hits the call button before he can chicken out. Placing the phone to his ear, he only listens to one solid ring before Luna’s urgent voice is calling his name,
“Yesung! Where are you? I thought you said you guys were leaving early, are you back in town yet?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m, I’m at home actually”
“Huh? Why? Are you sick?” Her voice gets a little chirpy, “Is Kyuhyun with you? Oh my God, are you two ditching us for a little alone time?” she laughs, “Haven’t you had enough of each other after six days together?”
It takes Yesung another 20 seconds or so before he makes any attempt to reply. “No. He, the asshole has a girlfriend”
There’s a loud gasp and a rather incoherent choking sound, “What? Like, like a girl he’s dating girlfriend or a girl friend who is just his faghag” she gives a soft chuckle, “I mean in some ways I am kind of your girlfriend too”
“She’s definitely dating him” Yesung mumbles, trying not to sound as miserable as he feels. He knows Luna is an easy going person and naturally cheerful, so he doesn’t know how she’ll handle him being all emo and needy.
“That’s so fucked up. I know you liked him. Maybe I should come over and we’ll spend the rest of the night eating ice cream. Whatever it takes to cheer you up okay, baby. This really blows though but…”
“God Luna, he fucking told me he liked me and I told him I liked him too and we, shit, we agreed to take a chance on our feelings and give this relationship thing a try and then the next morning, not even a FULL DAY, some stinking hours later I answer a call from his girlfriend!”
He breathes heavily into the receiver for a couple of seconds before moving the phone away from his ear. He hadn’t meant to offload his stress on her, heck she had already planned to come over and cheer him up, but he selfishly wanted her to be angry at Kyuhyun too. He wanted her to tell him that Kyuhyun was an asshole and that Yesung deserved better than that arrogant fucktard.
Yesung drops his head into the pillow and groans angrily. He stays like that until he exhausts himself, falling asleep as the adrenaline and hurt wore off a bit. He never bothered to end the call with Luna but he doesn’t give it much thought before he’s consumed by sleep.
~~
Luna comes over the next day which is unsurprising. He opens the door looking tired and dreadful despite the fact that he had slept until 10 a.m. Luna gives him a worried up and down glance; she places a large bag on the ground beside her and then launches herself at him to give him a hug.
When she pulls back she looks a little awkward but her smile is comforting nonetheless. Yesung’s lips twitch in a tight smile; he shrugs his shoulders trying to look apathetic.
“I’m not really good with depression, so please, please end the teenage angst. Now is not the time to mope, now is the time for an explanation and indulging in tasty comfort food, diets be damned!”
Yesung cracks a genuine smile at her honesty. He picks up her bag and takes a look inside.
“Pretzels? I don’t think Pretzels are a comfort food. He grabs a small container of ice cream and lifts it out of the bag. Raising an eyebrow, he asks, “This is the size you chose? I could eat this by myself” he grins, poking out his tongue at her afterwards, “And I just might. My depression needs soothing and this ice cream will work just fine”
Luna pouts, “I knew I should’ve laced the ice cream with laxatives”
“I’d still eat it, nothing cures ‘teen angst’ like a good bowel cleansing” He flips her off and as they share a soothing laugh. Yesung’s spirits brighten a little and he refuses to remain gloomy while Luna is with him.
~~
A little after lunch Luna suggests they get out of the house and go for a walk. Yesung hesitates at first but agrees happily, suddenly wanting to get as far from his house as possible. They had spent most of the morning watching cartoons, eating and avoiding all topics about Kyuhyun, not wanting to spoil the pleasant mood. Yesung was grateful for that, he just needed to be surrounded with a lot more positive energy rather than wallow in a funky stench of drama. However, he did give her all the cool stuff he had brought for her while on the trip, however, he avoided touching the neat pile of new clothes and trinkets Kyuhyun had purchased for him.
As they make their way out of the house, Yesung cannot help but ask,
“So, who won the hunt?”
Luna’s mouth twitches pensively, “I actually didn’t stick around long enough to find out. After you left me hanging, I was so pissed at Kyuhyun that I left”
Yesung nods, and just because he’s feeling a little bolder now that he’s enjoying the beautiful sunny day, he asks, “Did you see him? Kyuhyun, I mean”
He had been wondering if the other boy had gone over to Changmin’s with their stuff. It would be a waste if he didn’t at least turn them in and see how much points they could wrack up.
However, Luna shrugs and shakes her heads, “No, and I really didn’t want to see him after what you had told me”
“You’re such a big softie anyway” he nudges her in the shoulder, he assumed she probably would gone up in Kyuhyun’s face and told him off before leaving but she wasn’t the type to inflict physical damage or make a big dramatic argument publically.
They stray away from the topic of the scavenger diving into detailed descriptions of their individual adventures. Yesung told her about the happier moments on the trip while she spun tales of disaster and annoyance at her camping prison.
Somehow they manage to get a bus to take them into the shopping area, where they plan to walk around and look at stuff they couldn’t afford to buy.
“It’s cool” Luna says as a means to defend the mindless window shopping.
“It’s tiresome. If we have to walk about all day and not buy anything then I don’t really see the point. Let’s just go to Mamonji’s, order a cup of coffee, then find a seat in the back and gossip like normal teenagers”
They never get to make it to Mamonji’s, instead Luna receives a phone call from her mother begging her to pick up a bouquet of orchids from a Plant shop called Bells and Thymes. Luna looks sullen as she suggests that Yesung go to Mamonji’s and get a table for them while Luna runs the errand.
“Why can’t I just come with you?”
Luna’s face brightens explicably at his question, “Really? Well, I thought you would prefer to laze around and gossip”
“Ha ha. But seriously, I’ll just follow you to the shop and then we’ll go to Mamoji’s together. It’s a better idea than window shopping”
Bells and Thymes is a cute little shop with a purple roof and the entire building is fantastically decorated with paintings of exotic looking plants with brightly colored petals.
“Aw, this place is so girly” Luna comments as they push open the glass door. There is no air conditioning like Yesung had expected but there are two large windows on either side of the room that let in enough cool air and sunlight to make the atmosphere in the room satisfying.
There’s no one at the front desk, therefore Luna taps the petite silver bell that is implanted on the desk, trying to signal the owner. Someone shouts loudly that they’re coming and Yesung moves away from Luna to study an alluring set of colorful flowers.
“I’m so sorry! Hi, I mean, Hi” the girl behind the counter appears to be their age, maybe a year or so older. She’s wearing a t-shirt with an image of Santa Claus waving on it, Yesung can’t see what else she’s wearing since the desk is blocking his view, but assumes it’s just a simple pair of jeans. Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail but a good bit of shorter strands have escaped and have formed a sort of awkward bang in the front.
She grins politely and says, “Welcome to Bells and Thymes. Is there anything I can help you find?” Her eyes wander from Yesung to Luna, who had been studying a certain short plant.
Luna smiles back, bouncing over to the desk, “Yes. Uh, my mother asked me to pick these up. It’s um, for a friend’s wedding, her name is Lee Seo Lyn”
The attendant nods at the provided information and approaches the wide screen desktop monitor at the end of the desk. The sound of the keyboard’s key being tapped furiously is all they hear for a while before she addresses Luna again, her face pulled back into an apologetic grimace.
“I’m sorry but those haven’t been prepared yet. Um, but no need to worry. I, uh, I can get them ready in the next” she glances at her watch, “10 minutes, maybe less. It won’t be long. I apologize again for this, we’ve been short staffed for a while and I’m the only on working today”
Luna waves off the apology with a smile, “It’s not a problem for me, I can wait, its Mr. Grumpy pants you got to watch out for. He gets all bitchy staring at stuff he can’t buy” she points a thumb in Yesung’s direction.
Yesung would like nothing better than to flip her the-bird but doesn’t want to be labeled as rude by the third party. Instead he protests, “I do not. Don’t listen to her. I’m perfectly fine with waiting”
The girl bows thankfully, “You guys are awesome” she goes to head into the back room, however pauses when Luna requests, “Hey, uh, can we watch while you set it up?”
“Of course you can”
15 minutes later the girl has arranged a large basket out of different flowers that make the arrangement look epically adorable, even the handle had a decorative green vine threading over it like a pattern. Luna keeps pestering he girl about the names of the flowers but rather be annoyed the attendant politely answers, looking enthusiastic about being able to share her knowledge of plants with others.
“Would you like her bouquet also? Thankfully my dad finished that one up, so it’s ready if you want to collect it as well”
Looking toward Yesung for help, Luna nods and the attendant goes into the back. When she returns she’s carrying a gorgeous bouquet that makes Yesung groan a little. Both girls look at him, Luna has a mocking eyebrow raised while the attendant pouts at Yesung then glances back the flowers, checking it for flaws.
“Don’t you like it?”
“It’s beautiful” and if he sounds like a dreamy teenage girl then fuck it because the damn thing is simply beautiful.
The attendant giggles bashfully while Luna rolls her eyes.
“It’s just a simple blend of Red Roses, Light Pink Roses, Hot Pink Spray Roses and Cream Carnations”
“I still love it” he wants to touch it but prevents himself from doing so.
“Well, if you ever need a bouquet for your lovely wife, just bring her here” the girl blushes after realizing she had been shamelessly self promoting their shop.
Luna snorts while Yesung scratches the back of his head, “Do gay couples even carry around a bouquet?”
“If I wanted one then damn right I’m going to get one” Yesung states. The attendant looks wide eyed for a moment before she gives him an appreciating look.
“I agree. If you want a bouquet then you should get one. Just remember to buy it at Bells and Thymes” this time the girl winks not the least bit shy at her vain attempt to recommend the shop.
Luna playfully pokes the girl on her arm, “You’re so cute when you self advertise your dad’s shop”
They all share a laugh, however, the girl stops and gives Luna a strange look, “I’m not, I’m not into girls, but thank you for the compliment”
Realizing the implication Luna scrunches up her face, “I’m not a lesbian!”
This time only Yesung and the attendant laughs.
They are watching as the girl wraps the basket of flowers up in a wedding themed printed polypropylene roll when the sound of the door opening draws their attention. Luna is the first to swing around to look, the smile on her face fading into a surprised gape. Yesung glances at Luna, frowning at her expression before turning to see. Kyuhyun is standing in front of them with the door braced against his shoulder, his eyes are wide and fixated on Yesung in a way that clearly meant that he had not expected to see Yesung at that moment.
“You’re late” the voice is not Yesung’s or Luna’s, but from the attendant and she’s talking to Kyuhyun.
‘Why would she be talking to Kyuhyun?’ Yesung wonders momentarily.
“Stop staring at the customers, I needed your help with some of the boxers. Seriously why haven’t you called me since you came back” the attendant has moved from behind the desk and is now standing besides Luna, her arms folded. Suddenly she gasps and rushes toward Kyuhyun. Yesung seethes on the inside as he watches her caress a black and blue bruise and is currently turning an awful shade of yellow around Kyuhyun’s left eye.
“Baby, what happened?”
Yesung looks over at Luna, who mouths the word ‘baby?’ her face contorted in shock.
‘Holy fuck, that’s Gina’ Yesung’s eyes suddenly zoomed in on her as if he hadn’t spent the last 20 minutes enjoying her company. Now all he can do is search for flaws. Her had not noticed it before, but despite her weary physical attire, she definitely a pretty girl.
But if this is Gina, then why the hell is she so nice? Weren’t girls who stole your boyfriend supposed to be beautiful, man eating girls with disgusting personalities? But from what Yesung had gathered from spending some time in her company she’s honestly a sweet girl.
He thinks he’s going to throw up.
Why would Kyuhyun leave her for….him…
“You work here?” Yesung finally speaks up, his voice soft. He vaguely remembers Kyuhyun telling him that he helped out at a local flower shop. ‘Well, the owner is a good friend of mine’ Yesung snarls as he recalls Kyuhyun’s exact words. (CHAPTER 5)
‘Does he know you’re banging his daughter?’ he thinks with a passionate hatred. So all the times he skipped the gym session to help out at this flower shop he was just doing so to spend some extra time with Gina…his girlfriend…who is currently kissing him on the lips.
Gina pulls back and laughs nervously, and looks over her shoulder at them “Sorry about that guys. Haven’t seen him for a while” she turns back to Kyuhyun. If Yesung didn’t know better he would’ve thought she was flaunting their relationship in his face but she was clueless of Kyuhyun’s…’affair’ with Yesung, so in anyone else eyes Yesung would be labeled as the man stealing mistress.
“Yesung, I can hear you over thinking this from over here. Please, just give…”
“Wait? You’re Yesung” Gina bubbly comes towards him, “We spoke on the phone remember”
Yesung grits his teeth and his hands clench a little, Goddammit why was she so loveable. It would’ve been easier if he hated her, now he just felt like the slut who is trying to steal her man. He pushes past her, practically shoves Kyuhyun away and takes off without looking back.
Back in the shop Gina is watching Yesung storm away, wondering what she had done wrong. Luna sighs, knowing that she’s going to have to run to catch up with him. Grabbing the basket and the bouquet she smiles apologetically at Gina.
“I think the two of you need to talk about something” when her eyes met Kyuhyun, a certain fire burned in them and she smirks, focusing on the bruise, “How’s your eye?”
Kyuhyun visibly flinches away from her, “You’re a crazy bitch, you know that?”
Luna simple continues to smile perkily. “But I’m glad you’re aggressive enough to look out for Yesung. He needs strong people like you in his life”
At these words, Luna pauses at the door, “Then fucking grow some balls and you might have a chance”
~~
Part B